


please linger near my door

by hafury



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Fix-It, Future Fic, M/M, Post-Canon, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23793028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hafury/pseuds/hafury
Summary: Abed is silent. Troy can’t help but stare at the furrow in his brow, the sharp line of his jaw. He wishes he had the words for, nothing I saw was as beautiful as you. The words for, I think maybe I figured out I was in love.or, Troy comes back and tries to figure out the rest of his life.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 24
Kudos: 288





	please linger near my door

The first thought that goes through Troy’s mind is that Abed doesn’t really look like he’s changed at all. 

Troy knows that he himself has changed; he’s grown his hair out slightly and developed the beginnings of a beard. For the past few days he’d been unreasonably worried that maybe Abed wouldn’t recognize him, that maybe his journey at sea had altered him so dramatically that he would be met by a blank stare and a shut door in the face. Or maybe even worse, that Abed would be a completely different person, that maybe Clone Abed had evolved into someone who hated movies and was really into fashion or complex mathematics. This was a worse case scenario, because Troy really did not understand either one. He knows it was unreasonable though, because although they hadn’t really talked much during Troy’s sea voyage (Troy could never get a hang of times zones, and somehow every message he tried to write sounded stilted and wrong), Abed had sent the occasional email about things that were very much him, telling him things like “New Inspector is almost as bad as Minerva” and “Harry Potter sequels leave a lot to be desired.” 

Truth be told, Troy had been having feelings of uneasiness ever since his voyage ended. He had thought that he would feel more secure now that he had conquered a trip around the world, but really he felt all wobbly and uncertain, as if the waves had migrated inside him. And it isn’t that he isn’t confident and more self-assured, because he definitely feels that a journey around the sea amounted to some growing up, including learning that not all pirates had eyepatches and wore bandannas like Peter Pan or Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s just—he’s felt kind of unsteady, like a boat out in the ocean without an anchor, all the way back from the port, to Colorado, to saying hello to his family, to stopping by Greendale to catch up with Jeff and Britta. 

The issue, he thinks, is he’s not really sure what to do next. On the boat he had fantasized about buying a mansion or filling up a pool with money and swimming around it in like the cartoons he’d used to watch. He’d had a lot of spare time to dream about things that weren’t so unreasonable anymore. But the closer they had gotten to shore, the less certain he became about all that. After months and days of sailing there was only one thing that he wanted to do. Only one person he had wanted to see. 

So, still jittery and unmoored, he had texted his former partner-in-crime and bought a ticket to Los Angeles and ends up here, outside of Abed’s door, where he is now staring at the man who looked just as he remembered him.

The thing is, Troy’s done a lot of self-realization on his journey. He’s spent a lot of time thinking about what to say to Abed when they finally reunited. He wants to describe the flutter in his stomach that mixed with a sharp ache in his chest that was almost unbearable for those first few months on his voyage, and never really went away. But in front of Abed, the words stop. He doesn’t feel brave enough to say any of the important and mushy things that had been filling his mind. 

“Hey,” he says instead nervously, almost sheepishly.

“Troy!” Abed says, his eyes lighting up. “You’re here!”

Abed pulls him into a hug, short but warm, and Troy can feel his heart trying to beat out of his chest. 

“I like your beard. I thought about growing one too, but decided it didn’t really fit my character traits.”

“Wow,” Troy says laughing. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Abed replies, stepping back to let Troy in. “I just finished making dinner if you want some.”

“Dude,” Troy says, smiling, “of course I do.”

He follows Abed to a dining table while glancing around the apartment. It was smaller than their old one, but still just as full of posters and DVD shelves lining the walls. Even in a new city miles and miles away from home, Abed stayed consistent. That’s what Troy has always loved about him, how sure Abed always was about his interests and identity. Troy thinks that if Abed had been the one to go on the trip and get millions of dollars he’d know exactly what to do in the future, exactly where to go. 

Abed brings up two bowls of buttered noodles to the table and sits down. His heart melts a little at the sight, the wobbliness in him steadying a bit. He wonders if Abed still ate like this, or had decided to make this once Troy had told him he was coming. 

“This is a pretty nice place,” Troy comments, holding up a bite of noodles. “Do you live by yourself?”

“My roommate moved out two weeks ago. I’ve been meaning to find a replacement, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’ve been binging Stranger Things. Also, you should watch Stranger Things.” 

“Oh,” Troy says. He suddenly realizes that Abed now has a life completely separate from his, filled with new people and experiences. In fact, he muses, even though Abed looks the same, he’s probably gone on his fair share adventures and developed new interests. Maybe Troy was right to be worried, that Abed really was a different person. After all, there’s so much of his life that Troy has been absent for. Maybe Troy's been replaced, A sharp stab of jealousy and sadness strikes him. “Was he cool?”

Abed considers this for a second. “I actually never really saw him. It didn’t go how it usually does in shows, you know—moving to a new city, meeting someone random for your roommate, having wacky but grounded-in-reality adventures. But I suppose I’ve had my fair share of the roommate hijinks trope. I can’t complain.”

Selfishly, maybe, Troy brightens up a little at this. He starts eating his noodles while Abed explains the plot of Stranger Things, which from what Troy can understand has to do with Russians, monsters, and middle school kids. If he thinks about it, it would seem kind of odd to anyone else that after years of not seeing each other they would talk about this, instead of the millions of things that have happened since then; the countries that Troy has visited, Abed’s new job, what the other members of the study group are up to. But Troy is glad because it feels like they’re picking up right where they left off. It was cool to hear about everything new from Jeff and Britta but it also made him a little sad, reminding him on all that he had missed out on. Abed’s never done things the conventional way, but Troy thinks that it’s what he’s needed all along. Chewing contemplatively, he thinks that it’s okay that Abed isn’t the exact same person as the one he had left, because all the best parts were still there. 

Suddenly he realizes that Abed’s stream of words has stopped. Shaking off his thoughts, he looks up from his noodles to see Abed regarding him with his dark eyes, with a look on his face that Troy can’t quite decipher. That hurts, a little, because Troy used to know all the looks on all of Abed’s faces, no matter what character he was playing.

“I thought maybe you wouldn’t come see me.” Abed says quietly. 

Troy’s shocked. “What do you mean—why? Of course I’d come see you!”

Abed’s tone is matter of fact but he’s not looking Troy in the eye. “Well, conventionally, people who go on big, life changing adventures come back, well, changed. More worldly. They grow up—it’s the hero’s journey. Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings. Luke Skywalker. I know real life isn’t like TV but,” Abed pauses. Looks up at Troy. He’d been talking faster and faster, the words stumbling to get out. “I was worried maybe you’d outgrown me.”

Troy feels like his heart could break. All along he had been worried that Abed would be different, would have moved on, but he never considered that Abed would think the same about him. 

“Hey—that’s not true. Abed, that’s not true at all. I could never outgrow you—I,” he pauses, not sure how to continue. “Look, when I was out there, there were some pretty awesome things. And there were also some not-awesome things. But the entire time, I kept on thinking about how much more awesome it would be if you were there.”

Abed is silent. Troy can’t help but stare at the furrow in his brow, the sharp line of his jaw. He wishes he had the words for, nothing I saw was as beautiful as you. The words for, I think maybe I figured out I was in love. 

Instead, Troy says. “You’re my best friend, Abed. You always will be.” He sticks his hand out, a motion he’s done hundreds of time before for their handshakes, and Abed gives him a small smile and does the same. The two thumps against his chest feel like a heartbeat. 

They smile at each other for a while. Troy thinks he probably looks stupid, but he doesn’t really care. 

“Do you want to watch the new Star Wars movies?” Abed asks. “I’ve figured out the perfect viewing order.”

Troy laughs. The uneasy feeling that has followed him since docking seems to be fading. “Of course.”

He thinks to himself, things are gonna be alright.

Abed makes popcorn while Troy scrounges the cabinets for snacks, coming up with a box of Captain Crunch. They settle down in front of the TV, the setup of recliners in the old apartment replaced a single couch, as the familiar yellow letters scroll across the screen. 

Troy lets the sound of lasers and spaceships wash over him, occasionally glancing over to look Abed who remains fixated on the screen even though he’s probably seen these thousands of times and nods appreciatively at all the fight scenes. 

It feels so familiar that Troy could almost cry. It’s better than a mansion, better than buying a zoo full of monkeys or a really cool car. He thinks that nothing in the world can beat sitting in front of the TV with his best-friend-who-he-is-in-love-with. He knows it’s cliché, but he thinks that maybe all this time he had been searching for something that had been in front of him the entire time.

Suddenly he feel like he has to say what he came here to say, something that he’s wanted to say for a long time. It feels urgen, vital even, to tell Abed that he wants to be best friends but maybe more. He wishes he was better with words, or had Abed’s extensive knowledge of sitcoms and romantic comedies to know how to express how he felt. How to make up for being gone so long, how to reassure, really reassure Abed that he would never get tired of him, never outgrow him. He wants to say, I’ve been feeling unanchored, I’ve felt like a man lost at sea even on land, and I think that’s maybe because you weren’t there. He wants to say, I love you and I’m in love with you. 

“Don’t try to find another roommate,” Troy blurts out. “I want to live here. With you. If that’s okay?”

Abed tilts his head in that birdlike way, as if he wants to ask a question, but only says “Okay.”

Troy decides to be brave. He bridges the space between them on the couch by taking Abed’s hand and lacing his fingers through Abed’s long and slender ones, just like he used to after Spanish class, years and years ago. 

“I love you,” Troy says. All this time, he had thought saying it would be hard, but the words roll off his tongue so easily, as if they had been waiting to be let out. Half of him expects Abed to stay silent, and the other waits for the inevitable movie reference—Han Solo’s “I know”, probably, based on their current movie selection. That’s okay, Troy thinks. As long as he knows. 

“I love you too,” Abed says. There’s a smile on his face, genuine and wholly Abed, that makes Troy’s heart soar. The uneasy sea waves inside Troy have disappeared and instead his insides feel like a cookie fresh out of the oven, filled with gooey melted chocolate chips. 

They sit in comfortable silence, hands entwined, as the sound of the TV fills the room with a familiar chatter.

Later, there’ll be first kisses, second kisses, third kisses, until Troy can’t keep track anymore. They’ll buy a bunk bed and switch it out for a full size a week later. Abed will make Troy star in increasingly conceptual arthouse films, and Troy will reciprocate by coming up with increasingly complicated raps verses. They’ll go to the Disneyland Star Wars attraction in full costume and rank the rides by authenticity and scream factor, and to fancy dinners that they can now actually pay for. They’ll try to buy a dog together, realize how much work a dog is, and settle for a fish named Perro. They’ll change and grow up but stay the same in all the ways that matter, together.

Troy’s in no rush. They have the rest of their lives to say more, to do more. He knows he’s finally home.

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from a poem by Mikko Harvey which ends with “The number of hours we have together is actually not so large. Please linger near the door uncomfortably instead of just leaving. Please forget your scarf in my life and come back later for it.”
> 
> I love these two so much and I firmly believe they are now happily together!! They are hard characters to write but I tried my best, also I am horrible at coming up with TV/movie references so I apologize for that lol


End file.
